David brings the ark to Jerusalem
15
📚And David made houses for himself in the city of David 📖, and prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent 📖 for it. 2 📚Then David said, “No one but the Levites 📖 should carry the ark of God, for the LORD has chosen them to carry the ark of God, and to minister to him forever”. 3 📚And David gathered all Israel together at Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the LORD to its place, which he had prepared for it. 4 📚And David assembled the children of Aaron and the Levites; 5 📚of the sons of Kohath: Uriel the chief, and a hundred and twenty of his brethren; 6 📚of the sons of Merari: Asaiah the chief, and two hundred and twenty of his brethren; 7 📚of the sons of Gershom: Joel the chief, and a hundred and thirty of his brethren;
15:5-7 Kohath, Merari, and Gershon were sons of Levi – 1 Chron 6:1.⚜
8 📚of the sons of Elizaphan: Shemaiah the chief, and two hundred of his brethren; 9 📚of the sons of Hebron: Eliel the chief, and eighty of his brethren; 10 📚of the sons of Uzziel: Amminadab the chief, and a hundred and twelve of his brethren.
11 📚And David called for Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites, for Uriel, Asaiah and Joel, Shemaiah and Eliel and Amminadab. 12 📚And he said to them, “You are the chief of the fathers’ households of the Levites. Sanctify 📖 yourselves, both you and your brethren, so that you can bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel to the place that I have prepared for it. 13 📚For because you did not do it in the beginning, the LORD our God broke out against us, for we did not seek him in the proper way”.
14 📚So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel. 15 📚And the children of the Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles on it, as Moses commanded in accordance with the word of the LORD.
16 📚And David spoke to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brethren as singers with musical instruments, lyres and harps and sounding cymbals, to raise the sound of joy. 17 📚So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel, and of his brethren, Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari their brethren, Ethan the son of Kushaiah; 18 📚and with them their brethren of the second rank, Zechariah, Ben and Jaaziel and Shemiramoth and Jehiel and Unni, Eliab and Benaiah and Maaseiah and Mattithiah and Elipheleh and Mikneiah and Obed-Edom and Jeiel, the doorkeepers. 19 📚So the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were appointed to sound with bronze cymbals; 20 📚and Zechariah and Aziel and Shemiramoth and Jehiel and Unni and Eliab and Maaseiah and Benaiah, with lyres according to Alamoth; 21 📚and Mattithiah and Elipheleh and Mikneiah and Obed-Edom and Jeiel and Azaziah, with harps tuned to the higher notes of Sheminith.
15:20-21 Alamoth and Sheminith were probably musical terms. See the titles of Psalms 6 and 46.⚜
22 📚And Kenaniah, chief of the Levites, was in charge of singing; because of his skill he gave instruction in singing. 23 📚And Berechiah and Elkanah were doorkeepers for the ark. 24 📚And Shebaniah and Jehoshaphat and Nethaneel and Amasai and Zechariah and Benaiah and Eliezer, the priests, blew with the trumpets 📖 before the ark of God; and Obed-Edom and Jehiah were doorkeepers for the ark.
15:1-24 These preparations for bringing the ark to Jerusalem are not recorded anywhere else.⚜
25 📚So David and the elders of Israel, and the captains over thousands, went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD from the house of Obed-Edom with joy. 26 📚And it came about, when God helped the Levites who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD, that they offered seven bulls and seven rams. 27 📚And David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, and so were all the Levites who were carrying the ark, and the singers and Kenaniah the leader of the singing with the singers. David was also wearing a linen ephod. 28 📚So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with shouting, and with the sound of the cornet and with trumpets and with cymbals, sounding out with lyres and harps.
29 📚And it so happened that as the ark of the covenant of the LORD came to the city of David, Michal, the daughter of Saul, looked out of a window and saw King David dancing and celebrating; and she despised him in her heart.
15:25-29 2 Sam 6:12-16. See notes there.⚜